Saturday, February 18, 2017

In an attempt to promote cashless transactions in the country, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given banks the freedom to fix bank service charges for transactions, stated Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, in Lok Sabha on Friday.

RBI has deregulated interest rates on credit card dues. Interest rates are determined by banks with the approval of their respective Board of Directors subject to regulatory guidelines on the interest rate on advances issued by RBI from time to time. RBI does not maintain information on the rate of commission charged.

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has approved a scheme for giving 0.5 percent incentive on payments made through the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS) to merchants.

With regards to debit card transactions on PoS devices, between January 1 and March 31, 2017, Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) has been capped at 0.25 percent for transaction up to Rs. 1,000, and for debit card transactions value between Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 2,000, MDR has been capped at 0.5 percent.

RBI has decided that till March 3, 2017, banks and prepaid payment instrument issuers shall not levy any charges on customers for transactions up to Rs. 1,000 settled on Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) and Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

Further, Government has issued a direction in public interest to all public sector banks not to charge fees for transactions settled on IMPS and UPI in excess of rates charged for National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) for transactions above Rs. 1,000, with service tax being charged at actual; for USSD transactions till March 3, 2017, above Rs. 1,000, a further 50paise discount is provided.

NPCI has waived switching fees for RuPay Card transactions (both for PoS and e-commerce), IMPS, UPI, National Unified USSD Platform (NUUP) and AEPS, with effect from January 1 to March 31, 2017.

Credit card, debit card, charge card and other payment card services by banks have been exempted from payment of service tax for transactions of up to Rs. 2,000. The government has introduced Lucky Grahak Yojana for customers and Digi Dhan Yojana for merchants to promote means of cashless transactions.

In terms of Office of Controller General of Accounts Office Memorandum dated December 14, 2016, the applicable Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) charges on debit cards for payment up to Rs. 1, 00,000 shall be absorbed by the Government.

In terms of Department of Public Enterprises letter dated December 9, 2016, all Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) are required to ensure that transaction fees, MDR charges associated with payment through digital means shall not be passed on to the consumers and all such expenses shall be borne by CPSEs.

RBI has also cautioned the users, holders and traders of Virtual Currencies (VCs), including Bitcoins about the potential financial, operational, legal customer protection and security related risks that they are exposing themselves to. The creation, trading or usage of VCs including Bitcoins, as a medium for payment have not been authorised by the Reserve Bank of India.

Since digital transactions took off rapidly from November 9, 2016, Rs 27,000 crore has so far been saved under the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme, this was informed at an event held at Panchkula today.Also, about 35 per cent people have taken to debit card, RuPay card and e-wallet services for making payments in Haryana.

This was disclosed in the presence of the Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Krishan Pal Gujjar, and the Haryana Education Minister, Ram Bilas Sharma, at the inaugural function of the ‘Digi Dhan Mela’ and ‘Basant Utsav’, at Panchkula, near here, today, a Haryana government statement said here.

Speaking on the occasion, Gujjar said that 100 Digi Dhan Melas were being organised in the country to encourage people to adopt cashless transaction system for making payments.

So far, 56 such melas have been held. This is the third such mela in Haryana after Gurugram and Sonipat.

Gujjar urged the people to make digital transactions to realise the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and also encourage others to adopt this system.

The main aim of Digi Dhan Mela is to give people message of ‘Mera Mobile-Mera Bank-Mera Batua’, he added.

Monday, September 14, 2015

Around one lakh of the nearly two lakh customers of
Puduvai Bharathiar Grama Bank, the only Regional Rural Bank in the Union
Territory of Puducherry, have been given RuPay cards, said D. Devaraj,
Chairman of the bank at an e-Payments Literacy Workshop on Tuesday.

The
workshop held in Puducherry is among 115 such workshops being held
across the country as a programme of the National Payments Corporation
of India (NPCI), an initiative of the Reserve Bank of India and an
umbrella institution for all retail payment systems in the country.
Here, the workshop was conducted by the Puduvai Bharathiar Grama Bank in
association with NABARD.

A booklet on e-payments
literacy manual was also launched at the event by Shanthamurthy, Joint
Director, Planning and Research Department.

The
workshops are aimed at promoting e-payments and safe banking practices.
Around 200 customers and staff of the Puduvai Bharathiar Grama Bank
participated in the interactive workshop.

New app planned

A.R.
Ramesh, chief project officer, NPCI, Mumbai, took the audience through
various aspects of e-payments like safe usage of ATM cards, fund
transfer through IMPS (Immediate Payment Service), benefits of linking
Aadhaar card and mobile phone number to bank account, and answered their
doubts. Mr. Ramesh said that the NPCI has plans to launch a mobile
application bringing on board a large number of billers for the
convenience of customers. He also spoke about the benefits of the RuPay
card, an initiative of NPCI, with the card being linked to insurance
schemes, such as Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri
Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana.

“The RuPay card is as good
as cash. It is accepted on leading websites, including 30,000 merchant
websites, besides booking on IRCTC website and airlines websites also,”
he said.

Puducherry has high usage of e-payments,
said Ravichandran from Puduvai Bharathiar Grama Bank, adding that more
than 50 per cent customers at the bank use some kind of e-payment
methods. The event was also attended by O.S. Gnana Sekaran, Assistant
General Manager, Indian Bank Zonal Office, Puducherry, and P.
Veerashankar, Deputy General Manager, NABARD, Chennai. A workshop was
also held at Karaikal.

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Nabard’s UP chief general manager has launched ‘ Rupay Kisan Card’ at
the head office of district cooperative bank in Pilibhit. The new
computerised banking system will enable about a hundred thousand
farmers.

Farmers with bank accounts can now deposit or withdraw or carry out
any transactions with nationalized banks across the country. The Times
of India report quotes Nabard sources as saying the new plan would not
only boost transparency in banking activities but also check illegal
transactions.

Sources say Nabard would provide cooperative bank and cooperative
societies with 90 percent of the total cost of the plan in the form of a
grant-in-aid. The plan is estimated to cost about Rs 1 crore.
Nearly 76 cooperative societies operating in the district would be
equipped with micro computer devices fitted with the core banking
solutions, sources add.

Cooperators seem upbeat about the consequences of the new plan as
they are confident this would end a delayed cumbersome system based on
manual labour.

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has
sanctioned Rs 30 crore to these financial institutions for the purpose.

RuPay KCC is a smart card used by farmers at automated teller machines
(ATM) or point of sales (PoS) machines, where it could be swiped for
withdrawing cash or making payments. It does away with the necessity of
visiting Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS) or bank to
operate the account.

Under the project, NABARD has
extended support of Rs 19 crore and Rs 11 crore respectively to all
seven RRBs and 15 cooperative banks operating in the state.

To ensure doorstep delivery of banking services to farmers, NABARD has
also supported these financial institutions to deploy over 11,000
micro-ATMs/PoS machines at all their branches.

Recently, NABARD UP region chief general manager K K Gupta had convened
a meeting to review progress made under the scheme. Advising banks to
improve implementation of the project, he said NABARD would provide
assistance of Rs 5 crore to cooperative banks in setting up over 100
ATMs in rural areas and utilising PACS as their Deposit Mobilising
Agents.

NABARD support for technology adoption in cooperative banks and RRBs
would benefit not only farmers, but also rural populace in general, who
have opened accounts under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).

Besides, NABARD has supported cooperative banks and RRBs to set up 189
financial literacy centres in rural areas of UP with grant of over Rs 8
crore for disseminating information and creating awareness on various
financial products and services.

Monday, September 22, 2014

The initiative of South Canara District Central
Cooperative (SCDCC) Bank Ltd to make primary agricultural cooperative
societies (PACS) as part of the payment system under the RuPay Kisan
credit card will be taken as a model by Nabard.

GR Chintala, Chief General Manager of Nabard, Bangalore, told Business Line here on Saturday that the Nabard will issue a circular in this regard in another one-and-half months.

The
initiatives of Raigad and Rampur district central cooperative banks in
Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, respectively, will also be showcased as
models. Highlighting the SCDCC Bank model, he said both the tiers of
cooperative banking have retained their identity while implementing
RuPay cards.

Here PACS, under SCDCC Bank’s
jurisdiction, directly give loans to farmers. For the implementation of
RuPay card, these societies open accounts in the books of SCDCC Bank.

Though
the accounts are maintained at SCDCC Bank, the funds are routed in such
a way that the farmer need not approach the SCDCC Bank branch. He said
that the farmer will continue to transact at the micro ATMs at PACS
level.

In Raigad, farmers are the members of PACS
but they have their loan accounts at the branches of DCCB (district
central cooperative bank). All the accounts are transacted through the
DCCB in Raigad.

The Raigad model will be suited for those districts where the loans to farmers are extended directly through DCCB branches.

Those districts that follow the practice of extending loans to farmers through PACS can study the SCDCC Bank model.

He
said that 167 PACS come under SCDCC Bank. It has jurisdiction over the
revenue districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi. The boards of 163 PACS
have given their nod for being a part of the implementation of RuPay
Kisan credit cards to farmers.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to give a big boost to the ongoing
financial inclusion drive by unveiling a comprehensive programme at the
Red Fort in his address to the nation on the Independence Day.

The
proposed comprehensive financial inclusion programme envisaging
insurance and pension cover, apart from a default cover for lenders, is
likely to envisage opening 15 crore more bank accounts, 12 crore of
which will be in rural areas over next four years, according to a note
sent to the Indian Banks Association (IBA) by Financial Services
Secretary G S Sandhu.

According to the note, Mr Modi’s new
comprehensive financial inclusion programme has three major shifts from
the one pursued by the previous government.

First, the earlier
efforts at financial inclusion had villages as the unit for coverage
while the current plan focuses on coverage of households.

Secondly,
only rural areas have been the focus so far while both rural and urban
areas have been included now, says the ministry note.

Thirdly,
the current plan is proposed to be implemented as a ‘mission mode’
project. It envisages a comprehensive coverage of all excluded
households by a six-pillar approach in two phases, according to the
note.

The first phase of the programme, which begins from August
15 this year and ends on August 14, 2015, will provide basic banking
accounts with overdraft facility of Rs. 5,000 and RuPay debit card with
inbuilt accident insurance cover of Rs. 1 lakh and creation of credit
guarantee fund for coverage of defaults in overdraft accounts, according
to the ministry.

The second phase, which will begin on August
13, 2015 and conclude by August 14, 2018, will cover micro-insurance and
unorganised sector pension schemes like Swavlamban.

When contacted, IBA said already state-owned banks, insurers and regulators are working overtime to ensure a smooth kick-start.

“We
are currently busy chalking out the modalities of implementation of the
project, which will be implemented in the entire country after it is
declared by the Prime Minister on August 15,” IBA chairman K R Kamath,
who is also the chairman of Punjab National Bank, told PTI.

It
is a good scheme as it envisages going beyond the geographical
boundaries and promises of connecting each and every household, he said,
adding that more than being commercially viable, it is important to
link every household with the banking system.

“Through this
programme, we are looking at providing two savings bank account
facility-one each for the husband and the wife-to all those households
which not served by the banking system so far,” MR Kamath said.

“Of
course, these basic banking accounts will come with some in-built
overdraft facility and RuPay debit cards with an inbuilt accident cover
of Rs. 1 lakh. We are awaiting the final announcement of the scheme by
the Prime Minister.”

Inclusive pension is also one of the pillars of the proposed comprehensive financial inclusion programme.

“Pension
under ‘the mission mode’ will lay emphasis on this facility for the
lower income segment and the unorganized workers,” said R V Verma,
acting chairman of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority
(PFRDA).

“We will seek to achieve and expand the scope of the
National Pension Scheme (NPS) to serve the disadvantaged sections of the
population through active involvement and participation of all
categories of intermediary institutions like banks, NBFCs, MFIs, NGOs,
corporates and annuity service providers,” Mr Verma added.

Though micro-insurance will come in the second phase of the programme, insurers have already started working on it.

“While
the already existing 4,000 micro offices of the four PSU general
insurers would be strengthened, over 2 lakh existing business
correspondents will be asked to sell micro insurance products to ensure
the last mile connectivity,” New India Assurance chairman and managing
director G Srinivasan said.

“Though micro-insurance will come in the second phase only, we have already started working on it,” he added.

The
premium for the low-cost insurance products, which is to be paid by the
beneficiaries or from subsidy under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana
scheme, will range between Rs. 100 and Rs. 300 per annum, New India
Assurance general manager K Sanath Kumar said.

Nabard will
provide the initial Rs. 1,000 crore to create a credit guarantee fund to
cover possible defaults on overdraft accounts under the scheme, a
Nabard official said.

Several rounds of meetings have already
been held by the Department of Financial Services with all the
stakeholders of the programme, including state-owned banks, insurance
companies and pension regulator PFRDA.

The banking sector would
be expanding itself to hire an additional 50,000 business correspondents
(BCs), launch over 7,000 branches and more than 20,000 new ATMs in the
first phase, Sandhu told the IBA, adding that around 50,000 BCs are
likely to be appointed in rural areas for the programme alone.

Monday, July 14, 2014

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) today rolled out RuPay Kisan Card and RuPay Debit Card here today.

"This is the first time that RuPay Card, which is in the nature of ATM cum Debit Card, is being issued by any cooperative bank in the state of Haryana," said Nabard Chief General Manager (Haryana) D V Deshpande.

He said the issue of RuPay cards by cooperative banks will enable
them to improve their customer service and bring it on par with any
other bank to farmers and other customers.

Meanwhile, Haryana
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda asked Nabard to increase the
refinance given to cooperative banks from 50 per cent to 75 per cent.

Speaking on the occasion of its 33rd Foundation Day here today, Hooda
said reducing groundwater level and shrinkage of fertile land posed big
challenges which could be met by promoting piped and drip irrigation,
constructing green houses, promoting dairy and techniques of vertical
farming.
Hooda asked Nabard to work at the micro level for the
expansion of these techniques and said it should provide finance for
setting up water bodies in the state.

He said while Kisan Clubs
have been set up in all sub-divisions of the state, there is a need to
set up Kisan Clubs in all villages.

"Nabard should extend a helping hand in doing so. These clubs would act as a bridge between NGOs, self-help groups, farmer groups," he added.

Friday, June 20, 2014

CHANDIGARH: Farmers across the states for the first time will get
facility of credit cards by the end of financial year in the country.
The RBI mandated scheme is targeted to provide ease of transaction
through credit cards to farmers instead of prevailing cheque based Kisan Credit Cards.

The NABARD
funded program is being undertaken by National Payment Corporation of
India. As per the RBI guidelines, farmers across the country are to be
issued credit cards to boost paperless cash credit system by March 2015.
The initiative is part of the modernization bid of cooperative banks to
aid them tackle competition from the commercial banks.

In Haryana the new scheme known as 'Rupay KCC Card' will be launched
from Ambala on July 12 on the occasion of foundation day of National
Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). This State wide
scheme will be launched from Cooperative Bank of Ambala

As per
the scheme, farmers covered under Primary Agriculture Co-operative
Societies will get facility of credit cards for paperless loans for
crops and other needs. Under the scheme, the loans will incur interest
of 7 per cent up to the limit fixed under the Kisan Credit Card scheme.
At present crop loans up to 3 three lakh are provided to farmers under
Kisan Credit Card Scheme. "In Haryana farmers are provided interest
subvention of three per cent in case of timely payment," CEO, Amabala
Central Cooperative Bank Gurpreet Kaur said.

Cooperative banks in the country are burdened by rising Non Performing
Assets and credit cards are suspected to further deteriorate the asset
quality of the banks. " Ease of credit will encourage farmers to pay
back loans on time," says Yadav.The scheme could provide new lease of
life to cooperative banks that are losing ground to commercial banks.
"Crop loans is mainstay of business of cooperative banks unlike
commercial banks," says Yadav.

For the first time, now the Cooperative Banks in Haryana would also provide credit cards to farmers.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda
would launch a new scheme known as 'Rupay KCC Card' on July 12, on the
occasion of foundation day of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural
Development (NABARD).

This state-wide scheme will be launched from Cooperative Bank of Ambala in Ambala by issuing such cards to five farmers.

On the same day, Hooda would also introduce a new scheme 'Dairy Area Development Scheme' for dairy owners.

It aims at developing dairy through ultramodern scientific methods so as to make dairy business more profitable.

The 'Rupay KCC Card;' would be similar to ATM card which farmers can use at any ATM, an official release said here.

The banks would also provide finance to dairy owners adopting ultramodern scientific methods.

In a meeting held here today, the Chief Minister discussed
both the schemes with Chief General Manager, NABARD, D V Deshpande.

Hooda said the state government has taken a number of decisions for the welfare of farmers and dairy owners.

These decisions have benefitted farmers and dairy owners and enhanced their economic status.

He said that the state government would continue to take such decisions.

Highlighting 'Rupay KCC Card' scheme and 'Dairy Area
Development Scheme', Deshpande said dairies with up to 10 cattle would
be provided funds under the 'Dairy Area Development Scheme'.

He said the 'Rupay KCC Card' scheme is being introduced by Cooperative Banks in the State for the first time.

Deshpande informed the Chief Minister that today NABARD
released Rs 20 crore to Irrigation Department for strengthening the
irrigation canals in the State and has sent a new project costing Rs
200 crore for approval to headquarters.

Hooda also asked Deshpande to get a project approved for four
water bodies to be set up in the State to minimise threat of flood in
various districts.

Deshpande said progressive farmers and bankers with commendable
performance would also be honoured in the function to be held on July
12.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

AHMEDABAD:
The Kalupur Commercial Co-Operative Bank Limited (Kalupur Bank) on
Wednesday became the first co-operative bank in Gujarat to launch RuPay
debit cum ATM card for its customers. And by June, as many as 18
district co-operative banks will give RuPay debit card to over 1.3 crore
customers in the state, giving them direct access to 1.6 lakh ATM
centres and 8.75 lakh point of sale (POS) terminals (machines used by
merchants in shops and malls to accept payment through cards).

RuPay is an Indian domestic card conceived by National Payments
Corporation of India (NPCI) and was launched in March 2012. Of the 175
co-operative banks in the state, 22 banks, including six scheduled
co-operative banks, provide RuPay card to their customers.

Earlier, the banks issued RuPay card which enabled customers to make
only ATM transactions while the new RuPay debit card will help customers
to do shopping and also carry out online transactions. NPCI is in talks
with e-commerce companies to include RuPay card in their payment
options.

"We already have 54,000 customers who use RuPay card.
Through RuPay card, we expect to cover one lakh customers," said V G
Dadlani, general manager and CEO, Kalupur Bank.

The cost of
using RuPay card is also low. "The cost is one-third in comparison to
that of international debit cards. For every transaction through RuPay
card, banks have to pay 90 paise irrespective of the amount while the
cost for transactions through international cards comes at Rs 3 on
average," said A P Hota, managing director and CEO, NPCI.

RuPay
debit cards aim at financial inclusion of more people. "Over 1.3 crore
customers of 18 district co-operative banks will join the national
financial switch through RuPay debit card by June," said Ajay Patel,
chairman, Gujarat State Co-op Bank Ltd.

National Bank for Rural
and Agriculture Development (NABARD) will provide technology for RuPay
cards at subsidized rates. NABARD will also connect the co-operative
banks with core banking solutions (CBS) with the help of Tata
Consultancy Services.

"Many co-operative banks have begun the
process of providing services like RTGS, NEFT and internet banking to
customers. The rest of the banks will get it in next 2-3 months. Also,
all Kisan Credit card (KCC) holders will be given RuPay cards," added
Patel.

Monday, March 3, 2014

Dakshina Kannada district became the second district in the
country after Raigad in Maharashtra, to introduce the facility of debit
cards to farmers and customers of the Central Co-operative Banks.

With
the South Canara District Central Co-operative Bank (SCDCC) introducing
RuPay Kisan Card to the farmers, a large number of farmers with their
accounts in Central Co-operative Banks in the district, who were
deprived of electronic payment system facility, will now get an
opportunity to use debit cards like any other customers of commercial
banks. The SCDCC management, introduced RuPay Kisan Card for farmers and
RuPay Debit Card for its other customers, with the assistance from
NABARD, at a formal programme at the bank’s head office in the city on
Tuesday.

Speaking on the occasion, SCDCC Chairman M N Rajendra
Kumar said that the SCDCC was the first co-operative bank in the State
to introduce the facility, wherein nearly 90,000 farmers with Kisan
Credit Card will avail the facility of debit card. Micro ATMs ill be
placed in all the 166 primary co-operative societies and in their
branches, and in all the branches of the SCDCC Bank, enabling the RuPay
Kisan Card holding farmers and RuPay Debit Card holding customers to
swipe and withdraw or deposit money in their account. Farmers who
have availed Kisan Credit loans can open an account with the SCDCC Bank
through Primary Co-operative Societies and make use of the debit card
facility.

Aadhaar number can be linked to the same account, for
availing the government subsidy facilities. The account holders can use
the debit card in any of the ATM machines with RuPay symbol. The SCDCC
Bank has plans to introduce internet banking and inter-bank mobile
payment system in the days to come, Rajendra Kumar said.

NABARD extends support

Launching the facility,
NABARD Chief General Manager B R Chinthala said that the Central
government has directed the NABARD to introduce core banking solutions
or electronic payment systems in all the Central Co-operative Banks at
the earliest.

Though debit cards were first introduced in a
co-operative bank in Raigad in Maharashtra, Dakshina Kannada is the
first district to introduce the facility in a full-fledged manner.

“If
such facilities are not offered to customers, there is a danger of CCB
customers, migrating to commercial banks. Therefore, the NABARD intends
to introduce the facility in all the CCBs of Karnataka within six
months, following the footprints of Dakshina Kannada. The NABARD has
extended a financial support of Rs 1.75 crore to the SCDCC Bank for
introducing debit card facility and we are ready to offer the required
amount to any of the co-operative banks in the State,” he said.

Further,
he said that the RuPay system was more advantageous for the banks in
cost cutting, as the banks normally shell out Rs six per transaction to
the US based companies, in Master and Visa cards.

The RuPay
gateway system is designed by the Government of India, and the banks
need to shell only 40 paise per transaction. The government has
entrusted the NABARD, the task of ensuring that all co-operative banks
are brought under RuPay.

“The RuPay cards are not just
restricted to transact business from ATMs of co-operative banks or
Point-of-Sale (POS) machines, but also enable the transaction of
commercial establishments anywhere.RuPay Kisan Cards and RuPay Debit Cards were symbolically distributed to five farmers and five customers, on the occasion.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

PUNE: The National
Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) wants the
RuPay-enabled debit cards to reach out to a larger rural population and
has asked all district central cooperative banks to implement core
banking system by June 30.

The government, through the National
Payments Corporation of India (NCPI), had introduced the domestic card
scheme, RuPay, to rival Visa and Mastercard. The NCPI then went on to
work with major banks to get them on board to launch the RuPay Kisan
Card and the first to launch it was the Bank of Maharashtra,
which has issued it to farmers who have accounts with the bank. "We
have issued more than 30,000 RuPay-enabled cards. The cards will ensure
judicious use of cash limits by farmers. Once the loan is credited to
the account of farmers, they can purchase things using the card as per
the requirement," said Balasaheb Tavhare, assistant general manager,
information technology and management information systems, Bank of
Maharashtra.

Now, to accelerate the process, Nabard has provided financial
assistance to 11 district central cooperative (DCC) banks for
implementing core banking system, in addition to funding
regional rural banks that have farmers as account holders in large
numbers. Other DCC banks, such as those in Raigad, Mumbai, Pune, Akola
and Sangli, have either completed or are in the final stage of
implementing CBS
and have borne the cost of implementation from their own resources.
Nabard is also making point of sale (POS) machines available at all the
district and tehsil level, said an official. Nabard will also fund these
banks for issuing RuPay cards and point of sale machines.

The
card can be used in urban areas as well. The core banking system enables
a customer to access his/her bank account from any branch. The facility
is further extended to automated teller machines, estimated to be over 1
lakh across the country, which the account holder can use to withdraw
money. The RuPay-enabled card will act as a debit cardfor farmers for
withdrawal of cash, said a senior Nabard officer.

As per the 2011
census, there are 1.30 crore rural households in the state of which 34
lakh have Kisan credit cards (KCC). Kisan card is the Union government's
initiative for connecting farmers to banks and channelize funds and
assistance to their accounts. The RuPay card is being issued first to
farmers who hold the Kisan credit cards. All the rural households in the
state would also get RuPay cards eventually.

P M Ghole, general
manager at the regional office of Nabard, said, "Nabard will bear the
entire cost of making the cards to be distributed to farmers and
subsequent transactions for the first three years. We have also asked
the DCC banks to appoint correspondents with point of sale machines and
conduct training programmes for rural people who will be using such
cards for the first time."

RuPay is India's own domestic card payment network to rival Visa and Mastercard
and was launched in March, 2012. To promote RuPay, the Reserve Bank of
India has permitted private players to set up ATM machines connected to
the RuPay platform in urban and rural areas. Once all the credit and
debit cards issued by rural, public sector and private commercial banks
get linked on the RuPay platform, a card holder will be able to withdraw
cash from any ATM machine in the country.

30,000 farmers issued RuPay Kisan Card by Bank of Maharashtra

All district central cooperative banks asked by NABARD to implement
core banking system by June 30 to widen RuPay penetration in rural parts

NABARD is also funding 11 such banks for speedier implementation of core banking system
Total Number of Card holders in the country: 3,330 lakh